Spotify Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Spotify has confirmed the streaming thresholds for its new royalty model.Reports emerged last month that the streaming giant’s restructuring would mean that less popular tracks wouldn’t earn any royalties, despite the company reporting profits and subscriber gains.According to a Billboard report, a track would have to meet a minimum annual streaming threshold before it would start to generate royalties.However, the streaming threshold at which tracks will generate royalties has now been confirmed in a Consequence guest column by Kristin Graziani, president of music distribution platform Stem.“After doing some analysis on what Spotify has actually communicated to distributors, we can say that in reality, these changes are intended to benefit emerging and growing artists,” Graziani wrote.According to the article, Spotify is introducing three new policies in 2024. Firstly, all tracks will have to reach a minimum streaming threshold of 1000 streams within 12 months to be paid a royalty.

“Friends” theme song “I’ll Be There for You” non-stop since the actor’s shocking death Saturday.The Rembrandts tune has had over 1.3 million streams across Spotify and YouTube this week.Singer Charlie Puth, 31, even performed the song at his concert in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday before transitioning into his 2015 hit “See You Again,” which was written for the film “Furious 7” as a tribute to Paul Walker.And the hardcover edition of Perry’s 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” occupies the top spot on Amazon’s Best Sellers in Memoirs list, while the paperback version sits at No. 3, as of Monday evening.Perry played funnyman Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom “Friends,” which aired from 1994 to 2004.The “Fools Rush In” star is believed to have drowned at his Los Angeles home Saturday afternoon.

Spotify has revealed that Taylor Swift has broken two new records on the streaming platform.The singer released her re-recording of ‘1989’ on Friday (October 27), the fourth album in a series of re-recordings. It follows an ongoing dispute between the superstar and Scooter Braun, former owner of her previous label Big Machine Records – read here for a refresher of the situation.Since ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ was released, Spotify has said that Swift broke two new records.

big professional embarrassment from Spotify, Meghan Markle is allegedly close to making a big deal with its competitor, Audible. “Word of mouth is spreading that it will lead to a huge payout—even bigger than the millions Spotify splashed out—and Meghan is thrilled that she’ll be in the company of Michelle and Barack Obama, who signed a multi-year contract with Audible last year,” a source told “The Mirror.”Meghan, who the source said “seems very confident at the moment” in the potential deal, “knows her new deal with Audible could be make or break for her Hollywood dream.” The Duchess of Sussex, 42, and her husband Prince Harry, 39, have been the subjects of ridicule – and mockery on “Family Guy” – for their multi million dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify, which haven’t produced much content.

Spotify have announced that less popular tracks won’t earn any royalties whatsoever, despite the company reporting better-than-expected third-quarter profits and subscriber gains.The Swedish streaming service gained an extra 6million paying subscribers from June to September, bringing its total to 226million. This exceeds its forecast that their paid subscriber levels would pass the 224million mark.Despite these gains, however, Billboard reports that Spotify is restructuring its royalty system and plans to de-monetize tracks that had previously received 0.5% of Spotify’s royalty pool.” The plans will reportedly be implemented early next year.The changes in the royalty system are set to benefit more established artists and labels, while the biggest difference from the old system is that a track will need to reach a minimum number of annual streams before it starts generating royalties.Spotify is reportedly also planning to crack down on “fraud” and will issue financial penalties against distributors and labels it deems guilty of this.

Spotify is planning to roll out major changes to its royalty model, Music Business Worldwide and Billboard report. Per those publications, the company will execute this plan in the first financial quarter of 2024 in an effort to “combat three drains on the royalty pool — all of which are currently stopping money from getting to working artists.” These drains, apparently, are low-streaming tracks, “fraudulent activity” on the platform, and non-music “noise” audio that, in the current model, is placed on par with bona fide songs.

Spotify by Sony, including Gravity Rush, Shadow Of The Colossus, Soul Sacrifice and more.The SIE Sound Team account on Spotify is the one-stop shop for the soundtracks to a selection of the most acclaimed games on PlayStation, such as Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls, The Last Guardian and more.With this recently released lot, fans will be able to listen to the soundtracks to Echochrome, Fantavision, Freedom Wars, Gravity Rush, Patchwork Heroes, PoPoLoCrois, popolocrois: a new departure, PoPoRoGue, Shadow Of The Colossus, Soul Sacrifice, What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!? 1 & 2, White Knight Chronicles, White Knight Chronicles 2 and Wild Arms (as pointed out by X user AniPlaylist).At the time of writing, these have not appeared on any other streaming services like Apple Music, so it might be a matter of time before the aforementioned soundtracks become available elsewhere.For fans of Shadow Of The Colossus, it is a boon that they no longer have to rely on YouTube to listen to the soundtrack, which is one of the highlights of the reflective experience of playing the game.In Jack Richardson’s exploration of Team Ico’s original action adventure for NME‘s Remastered column, he argued that the emptiness and minimalism of the game’s direction is specifically haunting in a way that is unique to the medium.“Games have two stories: the one that takes place in the game and the story of us playing it. There’s certainly an artistry behind combining these two as closely as possible, but it’s not a necessary goal,” he said.“When we play Colossus, we’re constantly challenged to interpret what’s going on as we do it.

The Rolling Stones.The Catalan team announced news of the partnership with the classic rock veterans earlier this morning (October 19) – confirming that a new kit has been designed with help of the band.Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the team shared a video showcasing the special edition attire. For the most part, the design is the same as the original – bearing the signature maroon and navy stripes, and emblem in the left-hand corner – however, the new design also sees the band’s iconic Tongue and Lips logo printed in the middle.“DONE DEAL! FC Barcelona and Rolling Stones sign deal ahead of the next El Clásico,” the caption reads, also paying a nod to Spotify in the partnership.

Sampha has spoken about his inspiration and mindset while writing his highly-anticipated second studio album, ‘Lahai’.This week sees the experimental singer, songwriter and producer perform three sold-out shows at St John’s at Hackney Church in London. With the help of Spotify, the London-born singer wanted to gift his loyal fans a carefully curated experience in an intimate setting.On Wednesday (October 11), Sampha told the crowd to “feel free” and roam around the circular stage while they got “an intimate look into his production rehearsal”.

The Killers‘ ‘Mr Brightside’ has been revealed as the UK’s most streamed song in Spotify history.To celebrate the app’s 15th anniversary, Music Week reported that Spotify have made a list of the biggest artists and tracks since its launch in October 2008. ‘Mr Brightside’ (released September 29, 2003) has over 1.8 billion streams globally as of October 9, 2023.

Spotify are reportedly set to launch a new ‘Supremium’ tier that contains extra features for higher prices.A report in The Independent say the new tier will cost twice the current price at $19.99 (£16.33) and that it will offer lossless audio – a feature currently offered on Apple Music for free.The tier will also reportedly include new statistics about listening, a new audiobook feature as well as AI playlist generation tools. The Independent say the changes have been noted by technology expert Chris Messina, who, according to the publication, “found mentions of the update with Spotify.”The new audiobook feature has already been rolled out and it allows users to stream up to 15 hours of audiobooks for free each month.The streaming platform rolled out the new feature in the UK and Australia earlier this week (October 3), and are set to bring it over to users in the US by the end of the year.

Spotify has introduced a new feature, allowing users to stream up to 15 hours of audiobooks for free each month.The streaming platform rolled out the new feature in the UK and Australia yesterday (October 3), and is set to bring it over to users in the US by the end of the year.It comes after Spotify began introducing audiobooks to its library in September last year, however, they were never offered to users for free, and even premium subscribers had to pay individually for each title.Now, with the new launch, the platform has confirmed that it will be offering all paying subscribers 15 hours of free audiobook listening each month. It has also introduced more payment plans to its system, meaning that users can pay to extend the 15-hour limit, or pay to purchase the whole book outright.A large number of literary titles are available on the service, and having struck partnerships with publishing giants such as Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster, Spotify now claims to be the “largest of any subscription-based audiobook streaming platform currently on the market”.

failed partnership with Spotify continues to make headlines. Daniel Ek, the chief executive of Spotify, hinted that the highly publicized deal between the royals and the major streaming giant did not succeed because consumers were not impressed.The Duchess and Prince’s Harry’s company Archewell Audio produced a mere 12 podcasts during a two-and-a-half year span, after signing with Spotify in December 2020.During a recent interview with the BBC, host and technology writer Zoe Kleinman asked the CEO if he believed the partnership, which ended on June 15, 2023, was worth the $20M price tag.“You had some pretty big names,” she said.

Spotify has no plans to completely ban AI-generated content from the platform, according to boss Daniel Ek.Earlier this year, a fake collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd was removed from the streaming service as well as other sites like Apple Music, Tidal and YouTube. The song, titled ‘Heart On My Sleeve’, reportedly generated 20million streams overall in under 48 hours.During a new interview with BBC News, Ek claimed there were valid uses of artificial intelligence in making music.However, he said the technology should not be used to impersonate real artists without their consent – as was the case with the faux, unauthorised team-up between Drake and The Weeknd.Ek said that the technique of using AI in music was likely to be debated for “many, many years” to come, and explained that he believes there are three “buckets” of AI use:When asked about the challenge the industry is facing in regulating the use of artificial intelligence, Ek responded: “It is going to be tricky.”He said: “You can imagine someone uploading a song, claiming to be Madonna, even if they’re not.

according to the office’s records. It comes after the 42-year-old’s multi-million dollar Spotify deal fell through in June, axing her award-winning podcast from airing a second season.

Spotify has launched a new tool, which allows artists to pay to have their music promoted on the site’s homepage.The new marketing feature – named Showcase – was announced last week (September 13), when Spotify shared a blog post confirming it will be offering artists a new way to target potential listeners.The feature works by allowing the artist to select a song, an EP or an entire album to appear as a mobile banner on the site’s homepage, and cater the promotion to a specific demographic of listeners.Musicians will then be able to select a headline for the Showcase banner – to declare whether it is a new release, if they’re currently on tour, if the song is a deep cut or currently gathering a lot of streams – and the final Showcase recommendation will appear as a banner at the top of the home screen.The streaming giant has also claimed that the users who see a Showcase banner are six times more likely to listen, and that users will be able to develop multiple campaigns for the same release.“Artists and their teams want even more flexibility when it comes to surfacing the right music to the right fans at the right time,” read the blog post. “Whether that’s reaching new listeners with a trending song, engaging super listeners with an anniversary album, or targeting previously active listeners with a reminder of your tour.”Showcase also allows artists to separate their audience into different categories and cater their campaigns to reach each type of listener accordingly.

Spotify has denied claims that users can repeatedly listen to their own uploaded 30-second song in order to receive monthly royalty payments.As BBC News reports, finance analysts at JP Morgan had previously claimed that subscribers to the streaming service could make $1,200 (£960) a month by listening to their track on repeat for 24 hours a day.The apparent trick suggested that Spotify’s royalty payment structure could be manipulated. However, the music platform’s CEO Daniel Ek has now said this is not how the app’s royalties function.The theory was first reported in the Financial Times.

Spotify to launder money, according to a Swedish newspaper.The publication, Svenska Dagbladet, reported that gang members convert money received from drug deals, robberies, fraud, and assassination missions into Bitcoin, which they then use to acquire fake streams for artists with gang associations. They then collect the money paid out to those streams at a later date.One source Svenska Dagbladet spoke to said that Spotify is “very good for recruiting purposes,” since gang members can use popular artists, particularly in Sweden’s gangster rap scene, as a front for their activities.

A newspaper investigation in Sweden has revealed that criminal gangs are using fake Spotify streams to launder money. The Svenska Dagbladet report (via The Guardian) claims that gang members take the money they make through criminal activity, including drug deals and contract killings, convert it into Bitcoin, and then pay for false Spotify streams of songs published by artists with ties to the gangs.

Taylor Swift has made history by becoming the first female artist to hit 100million monthly listeners on Spotify.The singer, who has released a series of new and re-released albums in the last three years, still sits behind The Weeknd, who has the most monthly listeners on the streaming service with more than 110million.Announcing Swift’s new milestone, Spotify wrote on social media: “Queen behavior.

Guns N’ Roses are reportedly set to release the previously-unreleased single ‘Perhaps’ later this week.The track is taken from the band’s ‘Chinese Democracy’ era and is set to be officially released on all streaming platforms this Friday (August 11).At time of writing, there have been no official announcements from the band about the upcoming track, however, a link briefly appeared on the Universal Music website, allowing eager fans to pre-save the track on Spotify and Apple Music.When the track arrives, it will mark the rock veterans’ first release since the four-song EP ‘Hard Skool’, which arrived back in February of last year. The release was exclusively available on the band’s official store and contained two new tracks they released the year prior – ‘Absurd’ and ‘Hard Skool’ – as well as live versions of ‘Don’t Cry’ and ‘You’re Crazy’.Like the title track from the EP, ‘Perhaps’ was also written and recorded during the sessions for Guns N’ Roses’ last full-length album, ‘Chinese Democracy’, which arrived back in 2008.

two entities parted ways earlier this summer after Markle and Harry produced just one project for Spotify, the 12-episode podcast “Archetypes.” In the wake of the breakup, Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head of global sports strategy, called the ex-royals “f – – king grifters” and “lazy.” Another insider said the couple had come off as “difficult.” There were even reports that Markle didn’t conduct her own interviews for her “Archetypes” pod. But, in a new People cover story, some industry insiders are defending Markle and Harry.

announced it would be raising the price on it US plans by $1.A student plan will now cost $5.99 per month, a single premium plan will star at $10.99 and families can expect to pay $16.99.The music and podcast streaming app has embarked on a number of drastic cost cutting moves in recent months. In January, it cut 800 jobs, and it laid off additional 200 people in June.

Spotify has increased its subscription prices for the first time, affecting users in the UK and the US.The change in price marks the first time that the cost of subscription has increased in the 10 years since the streaming service launched.For the UK, the Premium plan now costs £10.99 per month, up from the previous price of £9.99 monthly. Various plans for multiple users have also gone up by £1 per month, with a Duo subscription now priced at £14.99 and a Family plan – covering six people – now faring at £17.99.

Netflix’s “Harry and Meghan” docuseries. But YouTuber Shallon Lester was not one of them.That is, until friends started telling her that she was featured in the fifth episode of the six-part series which chronicled the couple’s relationship and highly publicized departure from royal life.“At first I thought they were hallucinating because why on earth would I be in it,” Lester told The Post. “Especially since I wasn’t called for comment.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s failed Spotify deal, a royal expert claimed.Speaking on Palace Confidential, Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English talked about the criticism over how the ending of the royal couple’s Spotify deal affected many jobs and people.“Part of this problem with Harry and Meghan is a problem with the entire podcast industry,” English said.

LA Times report. “I do think these deals are going to be fewer and farther apart because there’s a lot of belt-tightening right now,” Susanne Daniels, formerly YouTube’s global head of original content, told the outlet. This comes directly after Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, had their $20 million deal with Spotify end. The couple produced only one show with a measly 12 episodes, causing Spotify executive Bill Simmons to call them “f–king grifters.” A source told The Post that the couple’s Archewell Productions didn’t release enough content to get the full payout from that deal.

lost their $20 million Spotify deal, however, they can still fall back on their Netflix cash.The royal pair are reportedly not parting ways with the streamer — as long as they keep on producing relevant content.Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, had signed an estimated $100 million contract with Netflix back in 2021.A Netflix spokesperson recently told Entertainment Tonight — via The Mirror — that “the bond with Archewell Productions is one we deeply value. ‘Harry & Meghan’ launched as Netflix’s most spectacular documentary debut to date.”“Our exciting journey with them isn’t ending anytime soon,” they said.

Spotify’s breakup with Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan Markle, 41.“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent,” Zimmer told Semafor during the Cannes Lions advertising festival.“And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something.”The Duke and Duchess of Sussex inked an agreement with the audio giant back in December 2020, estimated to be worth a whopping $20 million.They told The Post in a joint statement that they have “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”Spotify and Harry and Markle’s Archewell production company spectacularly ended their partnership last month after the couple released just one podcast series, titled “Archetypes.”A source previously told The Post that the Archewell media company launched by Harry and Meghan didn’t produce enough content to receive the full payout of the $20 million deal they agreed to in 2020.These remarks from Zimmer, whose business focuses a lot on audio platforms, show the shift in the podcasting industry, with A-list celebrity hosts and big-budget podcast on the ousts while personalities similar to those on the radio or talk shows are on the rise.The comments come shortly after a royal expert said Spotify executives were likely “horrified” by comments Prince Harry made to Oprah Winfrey after he signed a multimillion dollar deal with the company.Speaking about Spotify and a separate arrangement with Netflix during the sit-down with Winfrey, Harry downplayed their significance, saying they were “never part of the plan.”“That was suggested by somebody else by the point of where my family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford security for us,” he added, implying

estimated to be worth a whopping $20 million. But just four months later, the royal raised eyebrows with flip remarks about the deal during his sensational sit-down with Winfrey.

“Archetypes,” under her and Prince Harry’s failed $20 million Spotify deal — but that doesn’t mean the redheaded royal didn’t have podcast ideas of his own. Bloomberg reported Thursday that unidentified insiders claim Harry, 38, met with several producers and production houses to brainstorm show concepts.He was reportedly the biggest fan of his own ideas — including a podcast about childhood trauma with a slew of controversial, big-shot guests.Per Bloomberg, Harry wanted to speak with Vladimir Putin, Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump about their early years and how their experiences shaped their adulthoods.

“Anti-Social.”In a resurfaced clip from the independent crime flick shared on Reddit, the former actress, 41, swayed her hips for a perfume ad.The film snippet featured Markle rocking a red dress as she danced around a set and posed for photos.She gave a pout to the camera in the video as she held onto a lightbulb-shaped perfume bottle.The post came about amid her possible new Dior partnership — that is now null and void — and was spotted on a Reddit channel called “Saint Meghan Markle.”The indie-budget film also starred Disney star Gregg Sulkin as a graffiti artist that Markle’s character, Kirsten, falls in love with.“Anti-Social” was released in Hungary and the United Kingdom and has a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.Many people on the social media thread couldn’t help but criticize the “Suits” alum, commenting on her acting skills as well as her makeup look in the thriller.“This is REALLY bad makeup and acting,” someone slammed. “Everyone who says she is a good actor needs to see this,” another person noted.One watcher chimed in: “This is soooo bad! When she looks down at the bottle, yikes!”“Oh wow, I’ve never seen that little morsel of cringe,” a user added.It was reported on June 18 that Markle could be entering the luxury fashion world, and it was rumored she could be signing a deal with Dior in an attempt to “re-invent” herself.The Mail on Sunday reported that an anonymous Beverly Hills source said that the Duchess of Sussex is “all anyone is talking about.”“There have been rumors for weeks that she’s about to sign a deal with Dior which has put the gossip mill into overdrive,” the insider claimed.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the wake of the recent news that they've stepped away from their Spotify deal.After the Duke and Duchess of Sussex backed out of their $20 million deal with the music and podcast streaming service, Bill Simmons, who sold his podcast to Spotify in 2020 and is also Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at the company, called Harry and Meghan «f**king grifters» on his eponymous podcast on Friday.«The f**king grifters. That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them,» he said.

Spotify’s breakup with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a new report alleges that Markle’s interviews for her “Archetypes” podcast were not conducted by her.Podnews reported that some of the show’s interviews were done by members of the duchess’ staff — and audio of her voice asking the questions was clipped in later.The Post has reached out to representatives for Markle and Archewell Audio for comment.The revelations come shortly after Spotify and Archewell said in a joint statement to The Post that they have “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”A source previously told The Post that the Archewell media company launched by Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, didn’t produce enough content to receive the full payout of the $20 million deal they agreed to in 2020.However, “Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the ‘Archetypes’ audience on another platform,” an Archewell Productions spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal.Sportswriter and podcaster Bill Simmons slammed the couple in the wake of the fractured deal, saying he once met with Harry about podcast ideas and calling the pair “f–king grifters” in Friday’s episode of his namesake podcast.Speculation that Markle doesn’t directly interview her guests started circulating when writer Allison Yarrow shared on Instagram in August that she was “excited to be included in the visionary series.”Yet the post showed Yarrow posing in front of a sign for the audio production house Gimlet Media — and included thanks to an “Archetypes” producer for being “an excellent interviewer.”Yarrow — author of “90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality” — appeared on the podcast in an episode titled “To ‘B’ or Not To ‘B,’ ” in

not be renewed for Season 2.The royal pair signed a $20 million-plus deal between their Archewell Audio and the streaming giant in 2020. However, with the cancellation of the one thing they’ve produced under the deal, the duo is possibly missing out on a big payout.Levin told the Sun recently that Harry, 38, and Markle’s “value isn’t as high as it once was,” and their radio deal tanking is proof that their media kingdom is “crumbling.”“People are fed up with them now,” the “Harry: A Biography of a Prince” author said, adding that their forthcoming content plans will be “disastrous.” Fitzwilliams also shaded the former actress, 41, and the Invictus Games founder, saying the conclusion of their Spotify contract is a “shocking failure.”“The idea was that several series would be produced.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's podcast and Spotify will end their partnership, ET has confirmed.  A source close to the situation tells ET it's expected that the two will officially part ways in the coming days.The podcast — which premiered last August amid much fanfare after the couple inked a reported $20 million deal in December 2020 — will not see a second season on the giant streaming platform. was first to break the news. ET has reached out to Spotify for comment. was the first podcast series made in collaboration with Archewell Audio — the audio-first production company founded by Harry and Meghan -- as a part of the couple's multi-year partnership with Spotify. Launched last August, sought to «investigate the labels that try to hold women back.»Season 1 of  produced 12 episodes and included high-profile guests like Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Mindy Kaling, among others.«This is how we talk about women: the words that raise our girls, and how the media reflects women back to us,» Markle said in a teaser released in 2022, addressing the common stereotypes that have historically generalized women through the lens of popular culture and media. «But where do these stereotypes come from? And how do they keep showing up and defining our lives?»The podcast was also billed as an outlet where fans could get to know an «unfiltered» Meghan.«People should expect the real me in this, and probably the me that they've never gotten to know,» she said.